Chapter 84: Dizziness

Otherwise, there was no way the new students at the Jingda training camp could know so much about her. Unless it was someone from her own dormitory who had been at odds with her from the beginning. How amusing.

The showers had partitions for privacy. Shen Chaoxi removed her clothes, her fair, luminous skin exposed to the cool air. Steam swirled in the room. Tilting her head back slightly, she prepared to enjoy a hot shower.

Suddenly, what had been the familiar sounds of water from the other stalls fell eerily silent, as if all trace of other people had vanished. Shen Chaoxi sensed something was wrong. Her eyes darkened. She turned off the hot water. In that exact moment, a clear sound came from outside—the heavy door shutting with an unsettling finality.

Shen Chaoxi wrapped herself in a towel and stepped out of the stall, only to find the outer room thick with steam and a strange white mist swirling in the air. In her nostrils, she caught the faint, ominous scent of gas—something like a leak.

Trouble.

Shen Chaoxi hurried to the door, only to find it impossible to push open. It was as if someone had locked it from the outside. Impossible. Did someone mean to kill her?

Her gaze turned icy as she searched for the source of the gas. It was the natural gas pipe installed along the base of the bathroom wall—someone had deliberately damaged it. Gas continued to escape into the room.

If she couldn’t get out, she would be poisoned within ten minutes.

No. She had to find a way out.

But the bathhouse door was bolted tight—a clear attempt on her life. Who could it be? Who wanted her dead?

Shen Chaoxi pushed at the door with all her strength, but it wouldn’t budge. The air inside grew thicker with every breath, the gas beginning to affect her. In less than five minutes, her vision was blurring. Her head spun. Her heart fluttered with anxiety as she leaned against the door, overcome by dizziness.

“Hey, why’s the bathhouse closed so early?” A new student from the training camp, carrying a basin, shampoo, and towel, arrived, puzzled to find the doors locked and the place dark. Holding her basin, she turned to leave.

“Hey, what are you doing here?” Just then, another girl ran over, grabbing her arm and pulling her away. “Come on, forget the shower for now! That female reporter from the military district is organizing a singing contest on the field. She wants to do a live interview with the new recruits tonight.”

With that, the girl dragged her friend away.

Because the bathhouse was large, and the women’s area’s entrance was locked with a long, dim corridor outside, hardly anyone noticed that anything was amiss.

The air grew thinner, heavy with poisonous vapor. Shen Chaoxi’s lungs struggled for breath.

Elsewhere, Lu Yunzhou had noticed the girl’s poor appetite during dinner in the cafeteria that afternoon. Concerned, he’d ordered someone to buy her fruit—peaches, oranges, and the like—from outside the base and have a soldier deliver it to her.

“Did she eat it?” On the training ground at night, while the soldiers continued their drills, Lu Yunzhou supervised, glancing over as the soldier returned.

“Reporting, Captain, Miss Shen wasn’t there!” the soldier said directly.

“She wasn’t there?” Lu Yunzhou’s brows knitted in a frown. That didn’t make sense. He’d personally seen her to her dormitory. Where else could she be at this hour if not her room? If she’d gone to bathe, she should have been back at least half an hour ago. There was no reason for her not to be in her dorm now.

His frown deepened, unease growing. He ordered, “You keep an eye on them!”

“Yes, Captain!”

The training couldn’t stop, but Lu Yunzhou was worried about Shen Chaoxi. She was timid; she would never be out this late. He strode toward the officers’ dormitory, Lu Fifteen following behind.

“Captain, what’s wrong?” Lu Fifteen asked.

“We’re looking for someone,” Lu Yunzhou replied.

“Huh?”

Returning to the dormitory, Lu Yunzhou found it as the soldier had said—Shen Chaoxi was not there. Only her toiletries were missing. He immediately headed for the public bathhouse on the south side of the base.

#

Inside the bathhouse, the lights were dim, the air thick with mist. Shen Chaoxi was at her limit. Her head pounded, her chest tight, every breath a struggle. Her vision kept fading…

Gradually, her grip on the door loosened, and she collapsed to the floor, dizzy and disoriented. Just as she felt herself slipping into unconsciousness, a sudden noise shattered the silence—a door being forced open, the sound of a power tool cutting through the lock.

The door swung open. A tall, lean figure appeared in the doorway.

“Shen Chaoxi!”

Lu Yunzhou’s pupils contracted sharply.

“Shen Chaoxi!” he called, catching sight of the girl collapsed on the floor. He rushed to her, stripping off his military jacket and wrapping it around her.

He knelt beside her, anxiety plain in his deep gaze, and heard her weak voice.

“My head… it’s spinning…”

“Shen Chaoxi!” he called again, his voice low and edged with urgency. But Shen Chaoxi seemed barely able to hear him, slipping into unconsciousness in his arms.

Lu Yunzhou’s brow furrowed tightly as he gathered her up, strong arms lifting her easily. Lu Fifteen, waiting outside and assuming the bathhouse was empty, was stunned by the sight.

“Captain, Miss Shen—?” Lu Fifteen’s own nerves grew taut.

“Get a doctor!”

“Yes, Captain!”

#

The cause of the gas leak was soon investigated on Lu Yunzhou’s orders, while all other concerns were set aside.

Shen Chaoxi lay unconscious on a bed. She’d been given an injection; fortunately, her condition was not too serious. With a couple days’ rest, she would recover.

Lu Yunzhou’s expression was as cold as ice.

“Captain, we checked. Someone deliberately locked the door from the outside,” Lu Fifteen reported, his voice grave. “And the inspection team said the gas pipe in the corner was deliberately damaged—cut marks and all.”

In other words, someone had intentionally trapped Miss Shen inside, intending to kill her. Who could be so ruthless? And to dare such a thing inside a military base—didn’t they fear prison?

Finishing his report, Lu Fifteen glanced at the man before him, the white shirted officer whose face was frostbitten with anger, a glint of cold steel in his dark eyes.

“Keep investigating,” Lu Yunzhou ordered.

“Yes, Captain!”

He took off his military jacket and draped it over Shen Chaoxi. The girl’s face was pale, her brows knitted in distress, a sheen of sweat gathering on her forehead. Her sleep was restless.

Lu Yunzhou’s brow remained tightly furrowed.